


The Realm Above

by TitaniumNinjasGirl



Series: Zane Fangirl Moments Gone Wildly Out Of Hand [2]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: F/M, Random thoughts that I turn into these for no reason, Sequel to “Zane’s take on his death/INSBIT”, ZANE I AM WAY TOO OBSESSED WITH YOU LIKE FOR REAL BUT EH
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-03-31 14:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13977270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TitaniumNinjasGirl/pseuds/TitaniumNinjasGirl
Summary: Zane’s journey to the stars and back again. (Slightly different than the original storyline.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am hoping that this will explain some of the plot holes in between s3 & s4, but this is just my imagination, not canon... obviously...

Me and Father were exploring the Realm Above together. There were so many things to see and do! Father showed me how to do many things, such as how to fish, what amazing foods there were to eat, and all the fun games there were! My memories of my family in Ninjago were soon growing foggy and almost forgotten. 

One day, we went to a fair. “Father! A roller coaster! May we ride it? Please?” I clasped his hand and begged him. Since we had gotten here, we both seemed a lot younger, and I felt like a child again.  
I could see why I felt like that, since my android body was long gone by now and I had a completely new body. Father was still well, Father, just much younger. He literally looked acted and looked like he was about 25. I, on the other hand, looked and acted as if I was about 10 or 11.  
I felt like I was reliving my entire life, as a normal human child in a normal world. In Ninjago, I was expected to be mature and logical, and begging was unacceptable. Here, Father and I were able to do anything we wanted, whenever we wanted. All we had to do was ask. He chuckled at my impatience and replied, “Of course we can ride Zane! Let’s go!” I smiled and took off at a run towards the ride line. “Hurry Father! Hurry!” I beckoned at him as he smiled and walked towards me, slower than I would’ve liked. 

I ran back to him, grabbed his hand, and dragged him over to the line. As we waited in the line, a memory tugged at the corner of my mind. Hadn’t I been somewhere like this before? I couldn’t have though, could I? I had always been here, with Father, in the Realm Above, right? I didn’t know anymore. My memories were getting foggy. 

“Jay rode this once before, when he found his true potential at Mega Monster Amusement Park.” I involuntarily thought. “Wait, Jay? Who is that? I don’t remember anyone by that name! And where is Mega Monster Amusement Park? I’ve never been there before.” I shook my head to clear the thoughts away. I must be getting delirious from the heat. After all, I wasn’t part air conditioner anymore! 

We got on the ride and and secured our seatbelts over our laps. We climbed up the first hill and swung around the curves and twists of the ride, screaming the whole way! Oh, how long it had been since I had done anything like this! It felt...freeing. Human. So normal. We got off the ride, and my head started to hurt. “Father, I don’t feel well.” I told him, holding my head. “I think I need to sit down.” 

“Okay Zane. Here is a bench right here.” He motioned to a bench about 10 feet away. I started walking towards it. But I never made it. One second I was walking towards the bench, the next I was in wonderful oblivion.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zane is gone and some noncanon dialogue down in Ninjago

Back to right after Cole found part of Zane’s face…  
Cole POV  
“Cole! What did you find?” Lloyd was yelling at me, but I didn’t hear anything. Everything else had faded away as I looked at the small piece of metal in my hands. All I could think was, “Why Zane? It should’ve been me. It should’ve been me. It should’ve been me…” over and over again. I held Zane’s face in my hands (wow that sounded weird), and I didn’t even realize I was crying until a tear landed right on his fake eye. Lloyd came running over to me, and saw the panel. “Is- is that part of him?” He asked me, pointing to it. “Yes. It’s the only piece I found so far.” I answered through my silent tears.   
I looked up from the metal piece when Lloyd put his arm around me and squeezed me a little. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. We understood each other in that moment. Sensei Wu, Kai, Jay, and Garmadon came over to us and I handed Sensei the panel solemnly. Sensei Wu had a single tear on his face as he held it close. He drew a small sigh and passed it to Kai. We were silent as the panel made its way around the circle, each person making some kind of movement with it before passing it on.   
Sensei Wu suggested we go back to the Bounty. “Wait, we aren’t going to try and find Zane?” Kai said angrily. “It’s like you think he’s gone!” He jabbed a finger to the piece in Garmadon’s hand. “He could still be alive and we just don’t know it!” “That kind of explosion has happened only once before.” Garmadon told him.   
“When Wu and I were younger, we battled an enemy called Zalin. The only way we could defeat him was if a certain Master fought him, but because of the magic Zalin possessed, actually killed both of them in the process. The one that died was a good friend of ours, the Master of Light. Her name was Oralee, or ‘light in the dark’. When she died, her powers went to her young son, Lukas, who ran away after her death. The boy’s father is a man called Jax, and he is still alive in the city of Halami, across Ninjago on the edge of the sea. He is an old man now, but still very smart and agile. Nobody knows for certain where Lukas is now, but we are almost certain he is still alive.”   
Kai’s face had relaxed a little during the short story, but tensed up again when Garmadon stopped talking. “But-” he started. “Kai.” I stared into his amber eyes, and said firmly, “leave it. He’s gone. There’s nothing we can do. Let’s- let’s just go home.” I gulped and turned to leave, and Nya walked up and joined the group. “P.I.X.AL. is really upset. I tried to calm her down, but I think she just needs some space.” She told us. Now that Kai had taken a breather and calmed down, (which is very unlike him) I could see that there were unshed tears in his eyes. I knew he wanted to drop the tough-guy act, but he wouldn’t in front of us. We might be his friends, but his ego wouldn’t let him show his softie side, even though we all know he secretly has one.  
I started walking to the outskirts of the city, where the Bounty was, with my team following behind me in a solemn line.

P.I.X.AL. POV

As Zane glanced my way while traveling towards the Overlord, I gasped. “No!” I yelled stretching my arm out towards him. “Zane!” Nya grabbed my arm and pulled me down, yelling, “Duck!” A piece of hail the size of my hand had just come flying towards us and crashed on the wall behind us. When I peered back over the edge of the building towards Zane, he yelled, “Go ninja- GO!” as he released his full powers on the Overlord. A few seconds later, there was a giant explosion. The pure force of it threw me and Nya back against the wall where the hail had just crashed.   
I closed my eyes and my sensors started overloading. I shouldn’t be able to feel this emotional pain. Any physical “pain” can be tinkered with until it’s gone, but not what I felt in- my heart? I loved Zane and now he was gone. No, I still did! He couldn’t be gone! Wait, what about Nya? Was she okay? I opened my eyes and pulled myself up. Nya was a few feet away, rubbing her head but otherwise seeming fine.   
I walked over to her and crouched down, and asked her, “Permission to scan for injuries?” “Sure, whatever.” She grimaced as I helped her up. “Commencing scan. Please remain still.” She leaned up against a wall, and I quickly scanned her for injuries. “I have found a small crack in your left wrist. It will not require a full splint, only a bandage wrap for 3 days. That is all.” “Thanks P.I.X.A.L., I’ll fix it later. Are you okay?” I scanned myself, and said, “Physically, yes. But- I still feel something that I don’t know how to fix. Is this what it feels like when someone dies?”   
“Yes.” Nya whispered. “And I know that feeling well.” I couldn’t cry, that wasn’t in my coding, but I could go where nobody could find me, where I could be alone. “I-” I didn’t finish my sentence. I just turned and ran. I got inside and turned around,only to find Nya gone. Then, I had an idea. It was risky, but it could work.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zane finds out he has some sort of powers... but what kind?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it’s short, but I have to study for my exams this week.

Chapter 3  
Zane POV   
Was I dead? Alive? I opened my eyes, and saw... everything. I saw colors, people, places, and objects. I heard sounds and words too. Time spun around me, almost tangible. But I was not. I was formless, limitless. I gasped as my memories flooded back to me.

(Memory)  
Food flew across the room.   
SPLAT!  
SPLOOSH!  
SQUISH!  
Kai grabbed a plate of shrimp and tossed it at Jay and Nya. They ducked and retaliated by hurling rolls back at him. Salad toppings and mini-muffins were getting chucked at Cole and he tried to catch them in his mouth, only to be met with one to the nose.   
They were all laughing, even Sensei, but I didn’t see what was so funny. The food was wasted, and everything was messy. Oh, well. Wait, what was that outside? I’d better go check…

 

Punch, kick, spin, kick.   
That was the rhythm I had to keep in order to defeat these Serpentine. Jay was shouting witty quips while Kai was being sassy. Cole roared and slammed his Scythe on the ground, making the earth shake under our feet. I threw a shuriken at a stunned Constrictai, and he froze into a popsicle. It wasn’t long before we had defeated all the rest, and we high fived. We headed back to the ship and had some fun.

(End memories)

Many more came in rapid succession, one after another, so fast I couldn’t keep up with them. How could I have forgotten? I had been so caught up with Father that I had totally forgotten about my family back in Ninjago! As soon as I thought this, I saw something else. It was a blurry, small form of… P.I.X.A.L.?! My love! I rushed forward to touch her, and my whole body went through the little window. I tried to put my hand on her shoulder, but it went through! She lifted her head and looked around, and then towards me.   
“My heart! Can you hear me?” I asked her desperately. She didn’t seem to hear me, or even see me at all. When I tried to touch her again, I was put into her eyes.  
P.I.X.A.L./Zane POV  
We were one with one another, one body, one soul. We were overcome with sadness for his death. We couldn’t cry, but we had an idea to help him. We had to go start it!  
Zane POV   
I was thrown out of her head and I watched as she suddenly stood up and turned towards the machine room, as though she had an idea.  
I watched as she quickly faded away and another picture replaced it. I saw… my family! Kai, Nya, Lloyd, Cole, Jay, Sensei Wu, Misako, and Sensei Garmadon! They were all walking to the ship on the iced-over city sidewalks. I ran up to them and yelled each of their names, but, like P.I.X.A.L., none responded. The most reaction they had was to look around and settle vaguely around where I was, but never seemed to clearly hear or see me.  
I thought of earlier when I had seen through P.I.X.A.L.s eyes and ran up to Cole’s arm and grazed it with my hand  
Memory  
“Go Ninja-GO!!!” We watched Zane die, and felt a tremor as we ducked under a sewer cap to prevent from getting hit by hail.   
Later, we were looking for his body and felt heavy guilt and shame. It should’ve been us, not him. We found a piece of his face and held it close in remembrance...  
End memory  
I was in shock. I never meant to cause my brothers so much pain. I didn’t even know what to think. Suddenly, a sharp pain ripped through my body and I crumpled to the ground for the second time that day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back Zane! :) ;)  
> WARNING: LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOTS OF FLUFFINESS IN THIS CHAPTER!!! YOU WILL BE A FUZZY BUNNY BY THE END OF THIS CHAPTER!!! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo! Sorry y’all! It’s been IN. SANE. These past few weeks with school ending, camps, babysitting, writing, vacay- you get the jest. Anyway, this is the last real chapter, but there WILL be an epilogue chapter after this if you guys want to read that too! :)

Chapter 4  
Sensei Wu POV  
Following behind Cole, Garmadon and I were walking. “Brother, I felt a disturbance in the Spinjitzu balance.” I told him. “As did I.” He replied. We stopped and waited in silence as Nya pulled a remote control out from her pocket and pressed a few buttons. Soon, the Bounty was hovering over us with the loading platform dropping down towards us. The instant the platform hit the ground, I felt a throb in my head, and I put my hands to my head. Garmadon did the same next to me.   
I felt a tug in my heart, like a rope, and I turned to where it was pulling me. “I need to go investigate.” I whispered to Garmadon. “Watch the rest and I will return soon.” He nodded and followed the rest of the team onto the platform. I turned back towards the way we came, and with a sigh, returned to the site where a historic moment had occurred not long ago.   
P.I.X.A.L. POV  
While I was on the ground, I felt like Zane was right here next to me, so close to me… but I remembered he wasn’t. He was gone. Unless… no. But maybe if...yes! It could work! I had to at least try!   
Zane POV  
I awoke once again, but this time, I noticed my hand was translucent with a green tint. I started to panic, wondering what had happened to me. I examined myself to find that my whole body was in fact green and translucent. Was I perhaps a ghost? That would make sense, right? I died, and now my wishing to go back and see my family had made me a ghost, instead of staying in the Realm Above. But, if I had almost forgotten them, how did I come back? Maybe my subconscious has brought me back? That sounded right, right?  
I started to calm down when I started to think about if I could now go back and forth between the Realm Above and Ninjago. I wondered if I could go anywhere I wanted…That thought alone had me thinking about P.I.X.A.L. and my wish to see her again. Now that I knew basically what would happen, I prepared myself for it.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
I started when I landed on the ground, hard. I picked myself up and once again saw her.   
P.I.X.A.L. POV  
I grabbed another piece of metal and threw it in the growing pile behind me. I almost had enough! I grabbed yet another piece, ran back over to the table, and checked the blueprints. Yes, that’s enough. I was giddy with excitement! If this worked, Zane would be back! He could hold me in his arms again, and I could hold him too…  
I shook myself out of my daydreaming, and the computer started buzzing. I ran over and Zane’s face came up on all the screens in the whole room! I wanted to cry, and I fell to my knees.

Zane POV  
I decided to go see the computer, and when I got near it, it sucked me into it. When I got inside, I was staring out from behind a glass screen, and I reasoned that I was actually inside the computer! I looked out and noticed P.I.X.A.L. looking over at it and coming over, confused. Wait, now that I was a ghost, I could possess things right? What if I tried to show her that it was me by using the computer? I grew excited and thought about projecting my face onto the screen. 

She gasped and I knew that it had worked. I walked out of the box-like computer and stood beside her. She was now staring at a black screen, with her hands over her mouth, and she fell to her knees. I wondered if, like possessing and realm-jumping, if I had other capabilities. Maybe I could be seen! I focused all my energy into making myself visible, and suddenly P.I.X.A.L. turned her head and saw me. 

“Z-Zane?” She whispered with a hint of disbelief in her voice. “My heart.” I whispered back. I stepped forward and got down on my knees, embracing her on the cold tile. I didn’t feel the cold though, because all I felt was her arms around me and her head on my shoulder. Her body was shaking, and I realized that she was sobbing. She didn’t cry, but I could tell she was beyond that now. 

I squeezed her tight, not wanting to lose her again. “My love. I will never leave you again.” I told her softly. “Please don’t. It hurts me too much.” She whimpered back. We stayed that way for a long time, reveling in the fact that we were together again, finally. Whether I was a ghost, nindroid, or human. It didn’t matter.

P.I.X.A.L. POV  
He was here. The love of my life was back, and I couldn’t even think about anything else. He stepped forwards and reached toward me, hugging me tenderly. I fell into his shoulder and hugged him, never wanting to let go. We whispered words of love to each other, back and forth. We then sat in blissful silence, not wanting to let go for fear of losing the other again. 

After a long while, I heard footsteps coming from down the hall. I sniffed and got up reluctantly to go check it out, Zane behind me in a defensive stance. I cracked the door open and peered outside. Down the hall, I saw Sensei Wu with wide his rice hat and his bamboo staff click-click-clicking on the floor as he walked towards me with his head down. I motioned to Zane to come see.

He looked out and when he saw Sensei*, he relaxed and moved back. Sensei came up to the door and saw me standing there. His eyes were full of sadness. “Hello.” He greeted me. “May I come in, P.I.X.A.L.?” “Of course, Sensei.” I waved him into the dimly-lit room. “I-” His eyes settled on Zane, and he stopped short. “Hello Sensei.” Zane grinned as he spoke. “Did I miss anything while I was gone?” 

Zane POV  
Sensei’s eyes filled with joyful tears and he ran forward to the new White Ninja. “My child, are you alright?” He tried to touch my face, but his hands fell through. “Oh, right.” He took a step backwards and I reached up to touch my own face. I could feel it, and P.I.X.A.L. could, but why not Sensei? Oh, well. I’d worry about that later. I bent down to hug my mentor, and while my arms didn’t go through his body, his arms went through mine. I drew back and stared down at my hands.   
P.I.X.A.L. spoke with a shaky voice. “Uh- I had that all ready for you, Zane,” she pointed to a heap of metal in the corner, “but I guess we won’t need it anymore.” She chuckled nervously and scratched the back of her neck.  
“What was it?” I asked, going over and examining it. A piece of discarded blueprint paper caught my eye. I picked it up and looked over it. It was a blueprint of… me! Seeing this took me back to the Birchwood Forest where I first learned who I REALLY was. P.I.X.A.L. bit her lip and replied, “Oh, um… I was trying to see if perhaps by reloading and applying the right hardware and metals if I could maybe… bring you back to life. But you’re here now, so I don’t really need to.” Her compassion and determination to see that I was okay warmed the inside of me.   
“My love, I was always here. I was just trying to come back home. I visited Father and discovered many things, but the greatest thing I discovered was how much I love my family.” I grasped her hands in mine and brought her in for a tender kiss. Her eyes got huge as mine closed, and I heard Sensei harrumph and cough disapprovingly a few steps away. I didn’t mind though. I pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, just a little. A moan emanated from her and I let go, albeit regretfully.   
I smiled gently and pulled away, being met when I opened my eyes with a big smile from P.I.X.A.L. I heard a faint yell from outside the window and we all turned around to where it was coming from, me accidentally flickering out of sight in fear. I saw a flash of red and black and there stood my brothers! I flicked back in as they were saying “Sensei, we found-” When they caught sight of me, they stopped. Jaws dropped. Stared. “Hello.” I said with a smile. “Kai, Cole. I’m back.” 

Cole POV  
I think I was in shock. Could it really be him? My brother? I slowly drew the face panel out of my back pocket and walked slowly towards Zane, not believing it. I looked down at the panel, then at his face. The metal plate where it had fallen off was still exposed, and I wanted to place the panel back on his face to see it whole again. He closed his eyes, and then reached out to hug both of us. As he did so, I noticed that he wasn’t exactly his normal self anymore. He had turned into a… ghost?! (Cough soon-to-be-you-Cole cough)  
His arms settled on my back, but mine went through his. He let go and moved to hug Kai. When Kai couldn’t touch him either, his face scrunched up and then lit up like he had an idea. He jerked away and asked, “Pixal, is the metal you had still here?” “Yes, over there.” She pointed behind her. “Okay, hold on a minute while I try something.” He stepped over to the metal body Pixal had constructed for him earlier and laid his hand on it. He closed,p his eyes like he was concentrating, flickered, and then stepped into the machine, disappearing as he stepped into it.   
The body came to life with a soft whirr and the head lifted up. It was now tinted green, and it smiled. “It worked!” He cried. “Zane? Are you in there?” Kai asked. “Yes! Now I can possess things and I don’t have to be a full ghost now either!” He yelled, ecstatically. I ran towards his new body and hugged it. I was followed by everyone else in the room, and then we backed away, except for me. I set reached to put the panel from his old on his face in his hands. He straightened up and grazed the piece with his new fingers. With a sad smile, he gave it back. “Keep it,” he whispered to me, “you need it.”   
Straightening up, he turned to Sensei as he heard “Well, I believe we should head back and celebrate with the rest of the team.” Sensei Wu told us with a smile. I laughed and said, “Oh yeah, almost forgot about them!” I led my friends back to the ship and waited for the others.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
(Le time skip of about 15 minutes)

Nya POV  
As I climbed on the loading platform of the Bounty with Jay, he was the quietest I had ever seen him. I scooted closer to him and leaned my head on his shoulder, glad that I was a little bit shorter than him. He sniffled and put his head on mine. I reached my arms around him and gently squeezed, and he did the same to me. We rocked back and forth slowly, not needing words, until we reached the deck where we parted. As I turned around, my mouth dropped open in shock.   
Shiny metal greeted me in place of my old friend, but he was there nonetheless. Jay rushed past me with a cry of joy and threw his arms around his brother while I shook myself back into reality. “Zane? Are you really here?” I laugh-cried at him. “Yes, it’s me Nya.” He replied with a smile. “Where are Lloyd and Garmadon?” He asked me as Jay finally let go and joined Cole and Kai. “They were looking for Sensei, but I’ll let them know we’re all here now.” I told him, going up to the control room and sending out a SOS message to Lloyd and Garmadon telling them to meet at the ship immediately.  
Less than 2 minutes later, they were on deck staring at Zane. “Wha-” Lloyd sputtered, surprise etched across his face. Garmadon and Wu were conferring in low voices near the cabin door, but that was fine. “Let’s celebrate! Then you can tell us how you got back from the dead.” Kai yelled at us, striding towards the dining room with Cole behind him licking his lips in anticipation of chocolate cake and ice cream. Well, I was just glad Zane made it back safe and sound. After all, he IS our brother, teammate, and friend forever! 

*Cole is 5’10, Zane is 5’8, Kai and Pixal are 5’7, Jay is 5’6, Lloyd and Nya are 5’5, Senseis are 5’4.


End file.
